Contests and Confessions
by Lyrical-Nerd
Summary: Orihime decides to enter Karakura's first annual Miss Tanabata contest and Ichigo has a revelation. My entry for FLOL's 2010 Tanabata Contest. Rated for a couple of mild swears.


Hello, everyone! This is my entry for FLOL's 2010 Tanabata Contest! I hope you enjoy it!

PS: I do not own Bleach, or the Tanabata song. I don't know who wrote the Tanabata song, but I found it on Google and thought it was cool. And Bleach is owned by Kubo Tite.

* * *

It was a warm day in late June when Tatsuki arrived at Orihime's apartment. She held a light blue flyer tightly in one hand and used the other to knock on the freshly painted front door. She smiled to herself as she heard the click of the lock and the voice of her best friend.

"Oh, come in Tatsuki-chan! I was just about to start on the summer homework," Orihime said cheerfully as she opened the door wider. Tatsuki grinned and said hello as she walked in and sat down at the low table in the middle of the room. Orihime joined her and closed the math textbook on the table. Tatsuki slid the flyer across the table and sat back, smiling with satisfaction.

The auburn-haired girl picked up the slightly worn paper and scanned it, her eyes lighting up with each line she read. When she was done she looked up at her friend and beamed. "Ah, there's a Miss Tanabata contest this year?"

Tatsuki nodded, her smile getting wider. "The prize for the top three contestants is money for college. And the winner gets to re-enact the reunion of Hikoboshi and Orihime on the night of Tanabata," she explained excitedly.

Orihime bounced up and down a little with shared excitement as she looked down at the flyer again. "Ooh, it says you have to know how to sew. I'll try to teach you some if you want, and I think Onii-chan had a book of poems somewhere for the recitation competition. We should be able to have you ready by July fourth!"

Tatsuki sighed and shook her head. "Orihime, I'm not entering, but I think you should. You really have a chance at this!" she said eagerly.

Orihime looked up and smiled softly. "Thank you Tatsuki-chan… but I don't think I can," she replied, pushing the paper back toward her friend. Tatsuki frowned.

"Whaddya mean you can't?" She asked in frustration, leaning across the table. "Look at the requirements! Your _name_ is Orihime! You're practically the winner already!"

Orihime shook her head. "I know what you're trying to do, Tatsuki-chan. I don't think anything will change between me and Kurosaki-kun, even if I win the contest," she said, looking down and carefully smoothing out invisible wrinkles in her light green skirt.

_Damn it, she's gotten a lot smarter since she came back from Hueco Mundo,_ Tatsuki sighed to herself.

"Well," she replied. "Don't do it for Ichigo, then. Do it for yourself."

Orihime looked up, startled. "For… myself?" she asked.

Tatsuki sighed again and explained, "Orihime, usually people have a problem with being too selfish, but you have the opposite problem. When was the last time you decided to do something for yourself?"

Orihime thought for a minute before replying. "Ah, I decided to go get some ice cream yesterday!" she answered.

"That's not what I mean, Orihime," Tatsuki said. "When did you last try to prove something to yourself or meet a goal you have?"

Orihime thought some more. "Well, I went to Soul Society with Rukia-san to train before… before I left," she said, heart twisting when she remembered Ulquiorra's sudden appearance in the Senkai passage, and her despair at the choice she had been forced to make.

Tatsuki's frustration dissipated at Orihime's last words. She had forced Ichigo to explain everything he knew after the war was over, so she knew that Orihime had been forced to change in that other world.

"Orihime, that was almost a year ago!" Tatsuki said. "I really think you should do this, and I think you _can_ do this."

The other girl sat and thought for a few minutes, staring at the flyer. Then she nodded slowly, handing the blue paper back to Tatsuki.

"Okay, Tatsuki-chan," she said with quiet determination. "I'll do it."

* * *

And so the next day, Orihime found herself standing in line at the little park by the river, waiting to register for the contest. It was only nine in the morning, but there were many girls already in line when she arrived.

The healer sighed quietly. In truth, her relationship with Ichigo was much better than it had been before the war. What they had experienced together in their battles against the Espada and Aizen had strengthened the bond they already had as nakama. Now that things were settling down, their group of friends found themselves meeting to study or eat together instead of discussing future battle strategies. Ichigo even came over to study sometimes when he was having trouble in math, or when she needed help with her English. He had even started staying for dinner near the end of the term, but since summer vacation started, he hadn't come over at all.

The line moved forward slightly, and Orihime moved along with it, shaking her head in an attempt to dismiss her thoughts. School had only been out for two weeks. _Why would he want to start working on summer homework when there are six more weeks of break? Just because I like to finish the homework right away doesn't mean that Kurosaki-kun does._

Finally, after a long time of shuffling forward with the other girls and daydreaming about what alien homework assignments might be like, she was at the front of the line. She smiled and stepped up to the registration table. The woman there looked up and asked for her name, age, and phone number. Orihime gave the information, and in return was given a list of the contest rules, a contract to sign, and an information packet that listed what she needed for each of the seven competitions. She also had to write down her measurements so that two yukatas for the last two competitions, a group dance and a runway walk, could be made for her.

Once she had read and signed everything, she handed back the contract and turned to walk home.

* * *

While Orihime was at the park, Ichigo was sitting in his room, trying to work on proofs for geometry. But no matter how he did them, his answers never quite matched up with what the textbook said. He sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration. Stupid math… he had always been better with words than with equations. Not that he was good at saying things, but something about figuring out the best way to word a sentence in their writing assignments made him feel satisfied.

The substitute Shinigami stared blankly at his calculator for a few moments before turning it off and shoving his book aside. He would have to ask Orihime if they could study together again soon. It had been two weeks since school ended, and he was beginning to miss the study routine they had started during the new semester. When he first stayed for dinner, they had talked about the movie that their group had seen on the weekend, but a couple of weeks later, in the period of time between finishing dinner and actually getting up from the table, they began to recall memories from the Winter War. Tears had streamed from his friend's grey eyes as she described some of the things she had been through before Grimmjow brought her to heal the Ryoka boy.

Ichigo wasn't normally the type of guy who did what he did next, but seeing Inoue truly break down and hearing what she had been through before he arrived stirred something in him, and he found himself reaching over the table to hold both of her hands in his larger ones.

His daydream was interrupted by a knock on the door. When he opened it, he was a little surprised to see Rukia and Renji standing there in their gigais. Since the end of the war, the Captain-Commander required monthly statistic reports from Ichigo. It was usually either Rukia or Renji who took the report back to Soul Society, not both of them at the same time.

"Are you going to stand there all day with that stupid look on your face, or are you going to let us come in and sit down?" Rukia asked, smirking.

Ichigo scowled. "Shut up," he said, scowling more than usual, before moving to sit at his desk. Rukia and Renji looked at each other with concern. "Geez, what's eating you?" Rukia asked as she and Renji sat down on the bed.

Ichigo sighed. "Nothing, the summer homework's just ticking me off today," he said.

Rukia nodded in understanding. "Anyway," she said, "we're here early to celebrate Tanabata with you guys, and to celebrate this buffoon—" she pointed to Renji. "—getting himself promoted to a Division Captain."

Ichigo blinked before grinning at his tattooed friend. "So you finally did it, huh?" He stood up and offered a hand to Renji. "Congratulations."

Renji sheepishly shook Ichigo's hand. "Ah, thanks, but it's not completely official yet," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "He's already passed all of the tests and completed the transfer paperwork," she explained to Ichigo. "All that's left is the promotion ceremony." She turned to Renji. "I don't know why you're being so quiet about it," she said, frowning at him.

Renji's face flushed slightly. "I don't want to brag," he said, turning slightly away from his two friends.

Rukia looked at him strangely. "Manners have never been that important to you," she said, frowning. "So why are you suddenly concerned?"

Renji's face grew closer to matching his hair color. "No particular reason," he said, still turned away.

Rukia sighed in frustration. "You men!" She exclaimed suddenly, leaping off the bed. "Always so secretive! I'm going downstairs to chat with Yuzu and Karin." And with that, she walked out of the room.

Ichigo and Renji just stared at the doorway for a few moments. Then Ichigo rolled his eyes. "And she wonders what's wrong with _me_," he muttered to himself.

* * *

The week before the contest was busy for Orihime. Tatsuki and Rukia took her shopping for a casual outfit and a formal dress for the first and fourth competitions, which were runway walks. After that, she asked Uryuu which of her projects from handicrafts club he thought was the best. That was for the second competition, a judging of examples of weaving or sewing that each girl did. For the third competition, recitation of a poem or monologue, she couldn't find the book of poems that Sora used to have, so she decided to use the poem she had written a year ago about the rain.

During the three days before the contest, all of the contestants were called in to practice for the sixth competition, which was a traditional fan dance that they would do as a group. Then each of the girls practiced walking down the runway, and they were assigned a contestant number and a stylist who would be doing their hair and makeup during the competition. Orihime found it very exciting, but also a bit nerve-wracking. She had tried talking to a group of other girls, but they weren't very friendly. She remembered the feel of their eyes looking her up and down with disdain before turning away to talk amongst themselves.

After that, she kept to herself, wanting to avoid anything similar to her experiences in middle school. Fortunately, the three days of rehearsal flew by, and it was finally July sixth.

When her alarm clock went off, Orihime jumped out of bed and quickly got ready to go. She made sure to ask Sora to watch over her on this important day before she grabbed the bag she'd packed for the contest out of the closet. Then she left, humming the theme song from "Laugh Hour" as she walked to the park.

The streets were mostly quiet, since it was early on a Sunday morning. Orihime smiled to herself, anticipating the day ahead. After reading the flyer more carefully, she had decided that Tatsuki-chan was right. This was something that she could participate in. She had gained some more confidence knowing that Tatsuki-chan and Rukia-chan both believed in her, and actually felt like she had a good chance to win.

Once she got to the park, the auburn-haired girl headed to the sign-in table and then to her dressing "room". It was really only one of several tents lined up next to each other behind the stage, but Orihime didn't really mind. She had seen a few really fancy pageants on TV, but this one seemed to be less formal and more for the fun of celebrating Tanabata than anything else.

She greeted her stylist, Yukiko, and hung up her new clothes next to the two kimonos that were provided for the sixth and seventh competitions.

"How are you today, Orihime-san?" Yukiko asked with a smile.

"Uwah, I'm so excited!" Orihime replied, smiling back at the older woman. "My stomach feels all funny!"

Yukiko chuckled and motioned for Orihime to sit at the dressing table so she could begin.

About half an hour later, spectators were beginning to arrive. These included Tatsuki and Rukia, who were dragging Ichigo into the park.

"Damn it, why do I have to come along? I don't care about this kind of stuff!" Ichigo protested.

"Orihime is one of the contestants, so you should show your support by coming to watch," Tatsuki retorted, trying to pull Ichigo further down the sidewalk.

Ichigo stopped resisting, causing Rukia to bump into him from behind. "Wait, Inoue is in the contest?" the ryoka boy asked.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Should I get your dad to check your hearing? Yes, Orihime is in the contest." She answered.

"Oh." Ichigo didn't quite know what to make of this. Orihime didn't seem like the kind of person who would normally do this type of thing, but if this was something she wanted to do, then he supposed that he should be there to make sure things went alright. "Okay then," he finally said, walking toward the large stage.

Tatsuki and Rukia watched Ichigo walk away a bit before grinning at each other and running to catch up with him.

* * *

When they reached the stage, they joined Keigo, Mizuiro, Chizuru, Sado, Renji, and Uryuu in seats near the front. They only had to wait about ten minutes before a familiar face burst out from behind the curtain.

"Goo-ood Morning, citizens of Karakura," Don Kanonji said enthusiastically into a microphone. "I'm Don Kanonji, your host for today, and I hope you're all ready for the contest to start, because we've got some beautiful contestants today!"

_Oh great,_ Ichigo sighed to himself. _Not this guy again…_

After a short speech promoting his show's new timeslot, Don began to introduce each of the girls.

"And now, contestant number nine!" Don announced. An auburn-haired young woman stepped through the curtain, looking happy, but slightly nervous as well.

"I'm Inoue Orihime," she said before bowing to the crowd. "I'm sixteen years old and a high school student. Thank you for coming today!" She beamed and went to stand next to a nervous-looking girl named Misa.

There were several more contestants, but Ichigo found himself watching his friend. She looked the same as she usually did, and yet, there was something different about her. She seemed more confident, more... determined, perhaps.

After each girl had been introduced, they stood in a line and began to sing a traditional song for Tanabata.

_Sasa no hara sara-sara, nokiba ni yureru_

_(The bamboo leaves rustle, shaking away in the eaves)_

_Ohoshi-sama kira-kira, kin-gin sunago_

_(The stars twinkle; gold and silver grains of sand)_

After the song, the girls exited and went to their dressing rooms. Orihime found that some of her nervousness had melted away during the introductions and singing. Yukiko helped her change into the clothes that she had picked out with Tatsuki and Rukia. First the pink tank top and dark denim skirt, then the dark purple off-the-shoulder tee and pink sandals. After that, Yukiko French-braided Orihime's hair, putting the blue hairpins in their usual place, and dusted light purple eye shadow across her eyelids to highlight her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was getting annoyed. Don Kanonji was apparently in charge of entertainment while the contestants got ready for the first round, and he was currently interviewing one of the audience members. _At least I'm not the one up there,_ the Shinigami reminded himself.

Once the competitions finally began, it was mostly a blur for Ichigo. Orihime did well in the casual fashion competition, and fairly well in the second round, although the girl who won the handicraft category did so well on her ball gown that even Uryu was impressed.

Ichigo was surprised when he found out that Orihime had written her own poem for the recitation round, and he was more surprised when he found that he actually really liked the poem, despite his dislike of rain.

The formal dress contest went well for Orihime, although she stumbled once when she glanced over and saw Ichigo watching her with a stunned expression. The turquoise sleeveless gown hugged her body and with her hair down, wavy from the French braid, she looked quite unlike the Orihime he was used to seeing. _Has she always been this beautiful, _he wondered, _or have I just not been paying attention?_

Then it was noon, and time for a lunch break. Rukia had asked Yuzu to make a bento for Ichigo and herself, and the gentle girl had packed more than enough rice balls, sweet omelettes, and grilled vegetables. This was fortunate because Renji hadn't been able to bring any food, since he was staying at the Shoten again. But Rukia offered to share the excess, so everybody was full by the time the contest resumed.

After lunch was a short interview with the judges. They asked the girls questions about their ambitions in life, and what their hobbies were. Some of the answers were really crazy. For example, one girl's hobby was fire-eating, and she wanted to be in a circus someday. Another wanted to be a professional vuvuzela player. Orihime said she couldn't decide yet if she wanted to be an astronaut, a teacher, or a baker, but that she was leaning toward being a teacher. Somehow Ichigo felt like he knew this already, but he couldn't remember ever having a conversation with her about what they wanted to do in their careers.

The next to last competition was a traditional fan dance. Unlike the other competitions, all of the girls danced at the same time. Orihime had a very focused look on her face throughout the dance, but still managed to keep from looking tense or angry.

Then it was time for the seventh competition, a yukata fashion show. Instead of walking like models, though, the contestants were supposed to walk down the runway like princesses before lining up like they had at the beginning of the day. Orihime's yukata was dark green and made a beautiful contrast with her hair, which was pulled into a bun on top of her head. Two strands of hair framed her face and her hairpins were tucked into the front of the bun. Ichigo found himself growing anxious as the judges conferred for several minutes. He glanced to either side and saw Tatsuki and Rukia with pensive looks on their faces. Keigo and Chizuru looked as though they might be praying, and even Sado, Renji, and Uryuu looked kind of nervous.

Finally, the judges cleared their throats and stood up. The tallest one spoke. "Thank you all for coming to the contest today. These young women are exceptional and it was very difficult to make a decision." He handed a piece of paper to Don Kanonji, who read, "The third place winner is contestant number five, Fuwa Kaoru!" Ichigo and his friends leaned forward slightly as they clapped politely, their anticipation increasing.

The celebrity continued. "The second place winner is contestant number nine, Inoue Orihime!" he announced. Ichigo saw a flash of sadness cross Orihime's face before she smiled and bowed to the applauding crowd.

"And the winner of Karakura's First Annual Miss Tanabata Contest is… contestant number fourteen, Nakajima Rei!" The entire audience burst into applause as the winning girl stepped forward, beaming and waving. Ichigo recognized her as the girl who had made the ball gown. He sighed. _I don't know much about girls' fashion, but if Ishida was impressed, it must have been pretty good,_ he thought.

A stage hand held out the golden crown on a pillow for Don Kanonji, who carefully placed it on Rei's head. "I present to you, Miss Tanabata 2010! Congratulations," he said, cheerily shaking her hand. "Ah, and don't forget to come back tomorrow night, folks," he added. "Orihime and Hikoboshi's meeting will be at seven o'clock in the evening!"

There was a final round of applause as the girls gracefully exited the stage. Keigo and Chizuru began muttering about wanting to see Orihime, but Tatsuki kept them at bay until their gentle friend finally came to join them. She was wearing the casual outfit from the morning, and her hair was still a little bit wavy, but back to its normal style.

"Congratulations, Orihime!" Tatsuki gave her best friend a hug. "You got second place!"

"Next time you'll definitely get first, eh Inoue-san?" Keigo and Sado each gave her a thumbs up.

Orihime smiled and blushed, a bit embarrassed by the attention. "Ah, thank you for coming, everyone! Next year I'll definitely win!" She pumped her fist in the air determinedly.

"Good job today, Inoue," Ichigo said with a small smile. Orihime's cheeks turned darker. "Ah, thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" She ducked her head down.

"I'm up for eating somewhere together, if you guys are," Mizuiro said. "There's a good place about two blocks away."

As the group made their plans, Orihime sighed happily. Even though she didn't win the grand prize, she was glad to be able to win second place. And she was thankful for her friends being there all day to watch her. _It's a very comforting feeling to know that everyone came to cheer me on, _she thought, feeling content.

"Oi," Ichigo's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Are you coming, Inoue? We're going to the place Mizuiro was talking about."

"A-ah, yes, I'm coming," Orihime replied as she began to walk with Ichigo.

* * *

It was a warm day in the middle of July when there was a knock at Orihime's front door. She opened it, expecting Tatsuki, but instead she saw her orange-haired crush.

"Ah, it's Kurosaki-kun! Is something wrong?" she asked.

Ichigo smiled. "Yo, Inoue. I kinda need help with the math homework. Are you busy?"

The healer shook her head. "Nope!" she said brightly. "I've just been reading a new library book. Come on in!"

As they worked on the homework and talked about how Renji had proposed to Rukia after the reenactment on Tanabata, the distance between the two teenagers slowly shrank, and it wasn't long before they were sitting on the same side of the table.

"And you see, you have to use that theory for this problem too!" Orihime pointed at the textbook as she looked up at Ichigo. _Aah, when did Kurosaki-kun get so close?_

Ichigo looked down at his blushing friend. "Are you okay, Inoue?" he asked.

"A-ah, yes—" She squeaked as Ichigo wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Kurosaki-kun?"

"It's taken me a while to realize it, but you're really amazing, Inoue. You've never really had parents, and you've been able to go on with your life in spite of that. Even though you've been treated unfairly, you're kind to everyone you meet, and you're smart and brave too.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're okay, living by yourself. I know you can take care of yourself just fine, but… I don't want you to feel alone. So if you're lonely… can I be there for you?"

Orihime caught her breath, stunned by this little speech. "W-what do you mean?" she asked, not sure what he meant.

Ichigo's face turned red as he tried to explain. "Um... that is, I want to take care of you. Because… because I love you, Orihime." He became more nervous and began to speak quickly. "Of course, I would understand if you don't feel that way, but I would like to be there for you as a friend anyway, if you don't mind—" he stopped as Orihime pulled away slightly to look at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Kurosaki-kun… really feels that way about me?" she asked with a tiny smile.

"Um… yeah, I do," said Ichigo, not really understanding why she asked.

"That makes me so happy," she said, smile growing larger. "Because… I love Kurosaki-kun too!" She buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his back, embarrassed by her confession.

"Eh? Really?" Ichigo felt the healer nod into his shoulder, and relaxed. "That's good then," he said quietly. "We'll definitely take good care of each other, right?" Another nod. "Okay. It's settled," he murmured, resting his head on top of hers. "I'll take care of you, and you'll take care of me."

And so they did.

_Fin._

_

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Please review! ^-^


End file.
